HYDERABAD: It’s going to be a bleak Southwest monsoon in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh’s Rayalaseema region this year, according to Skymet.
The private meteorological organisation says most parts of Telangana — mainly its western, northern and southern districts — will receive 15-20 per cent less-than-normal rainfall, and parts of Nizamabad, Nirmal and Adilabad districts could even see that figure touch 20-30 per cent.
However, the situation will be better in the eastern districts of Khammam, Kothagudem and Bhupalpally, where rainfall will be close to normal.
The Rayalaseema region is expected to receive 15-20 per cent less-than-normal rainfall, and coastal Andhra will get monsoon rains that are 10-15 per cent below normal. The situation, however, will be better in north coastal Andhra Pradesh, as per Skymet’s forecast.
If the rainfall in various districts of Telangana is indeed below-normal, lakhs of farmers will be affected.
Though the state, on the whole, got just two per cent below-normal rainfall during last year’s monsoon, many parts of the erstwhile Medak, Nalgonda and Rangareddy districts suffered with showers being 22-42 per cent below normal. These districts are again expected to receive poor rainfall. Last year, Rayalaseema received 37 per cent below-normal rainfall - the worst among all meteorological divisions in south India.
If the drought-hit region receives 15-20 per cent below-normal rainfall this year, as predicted, it is bound to be severely impacted.
Between June and September, June and July are expected to be largely dry in both the Telugu-speaking states, and rains are expected to pick up in the next two months.
As per data recorded until the last week of March under the Drought Early Warning System (DEWS), most regions of Rayalaseema are already classified under the worst category of drought - ‘exceptionally dry’. The southern districts of Telangana, mainly erstwhile Mahbubnagar and parts of Rangareddy and Warangal, meanwhile, are in the ‘severe dry’ category.